Loading...
In some patients, antiphospholipid antibodies (anticardiolipin antibodies and lupus anticoagulants) are markers for an increased risk of thrombosis. This retrospective survey described the course of 70 patients (mean age, 45.5 years) with antiphospholipid antibodies and at least one thrombotic event.
Most patients (73 percent) had "primary" antiphospholipid syndrome, 20 percent had systemic lupus, and 7 percent had idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. The first thrombotic event was venous (primarily in the leg) in 56 percent of the patients and arterial (usually in the carotid distribution) in 44 percent. About half of the patients had recurrent thrombosis during a mean follow-up period of 5.2 years. Recurrences were always arterial after in…